Striping box for circular knitting machines

ABSTRACT

A STRIPING BOX IS COMPACTLY CONSTRUCTED IN AN IMPROVED MANNER TO ECONOMIZEX ON THE SPACE REQUIRED FOR SUCH DEVICEI ON A KNITTING MACHINE, AND TO PROVIDE FOR ACCURATE POSITIONING OF THE STRIPING BOX DRUM AS WELL AS THE MAINTENANCE OF SUCH DRUM IS POSITIVELY DEFINED POSITIONS FOR PERIODS OF TIME.

Nov. 23, 1971 s go ETAL 3,621,618

STRIPING BOX FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 9, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. I

INVQNTORS Lester Mlschon By Paul M. Wolford wmvsss: /5%/ STRIPING BOX FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 9, 1970 Nov. Z3, 1971 MISHCQN ETAL 2 Sheets-Sheet 3 mvsmons. Lester Mischon Paul M. Wolford ATTORNEY United States Patent thee 3,621,678 STRIPIN G BOX FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES Lester Mishcon, Miami Beach, and Paul M. Wolford,

North Miami Beach, Fla., assignors to The Singer Company, New York, N .Y.

Filed Apr. 9, 1970, Ser. No. 26,999 Int. Cl. D04!) /58 US. Cl. 66-138 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A striping box is compactly constructed in an improved manner to economize on the space required for such device on a kniting machine, and to provide for accurate positioning of the striping box drum as well as the maintenance of such drum in positively defined positions for periods of time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention The invention relates to knitting machines and more particularly is directed to multiple feed striping boxes such as used on circular knitting machines and periodically operated by mechanisms of such machines to move selected yarns into knitting and non-knitting positions.

(2) Description of the prior art The invention of the present application is an improvement upon the striping box constructions of US. Pats. No. 2,543,121 for Knitting Machine and US. Pat. No. 2,549,701 for Apparatus for Knitting Striped Fabric.

Striping boxes such as disclosed in the said United States patents include a plurality of fingers which move selected yarns into and out of yarn feeding positions, the positions of the fingers being determined according to the operation of finger-actuating drums. In this way, color changes and other yarn changes in a fabric being knitted can be conveniently made according to a predetermined design.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention the drum of a striping box is positioned in response to the operation of a cam actuated plunger acting through a lever and unidirectional roller clutch, the clutch being movable between specific positions defined in such manner as to minimize the space required for the striping box construction.

A prime object of the invention is to provide a striping box construction wherein a finger-actuating drum may be precisely positioned and reliably maintained in predetermined positions for periods of time.

Another object of the invention is to eliminate the need to use a ratchet and pawl mechanism for moving the striping box drum into predetermined positions in response to movements of a cam actuated plunger.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a striping box which is compact in construction such that the number of striping boxes which can be disposed about a cylinder of a given diameter of a circular knitting machine may be increased.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a striping box which is particularly simple in construction and can be more easily manufactured than the prior art devices.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during a reading of the specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

3,62Lfi78 Patented Nov. 23, 197].

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view showing a striping box according to the invention on a circular knitting machine.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the striping box of FIG. 1 taken from the inside of the circular knitting machine.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic cross sectional view on the plane of the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an elevational view of the striping box of FIG. 1 taken from the outside of the circular knitting machine.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged exploded. view showing portions of the striping box of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a crosssectional view of the drum of the striping box.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line '77 of FIG. 6 and showing possible positions for a key between teeth of the drum.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, reference character 10 designates one of a plurality of striping boxes mounted in a stationary carrier ring 12. The striping box 10 contains four striping fingers I4, 16, 18 and 20, such fingers being of conventional construction and containing apertures through which extend yarns 22, .24, 26 and 28, respectively, from cones on a yarn stand (not shown).

The striping fingers are pivotally mounted on rod 30 between check plates 32 and '34, and are each movable between an inoperative position and an operative position. When a selected finger such as finger 18 is in its operative position, the yarn 26 carried thereby is operatively engageable with a needle 36 whereby the yarn may be knitted into a fabric 35. Movement of the striping fingers from their inoperative to their operative positions determine which striping yarns are incorporated into the fabric. Since the fingers may carry difierently colored yarns or yarn of different textures, various striped effects can be obtained by selectively operating the striping fingers of the striping boxes which may be positioned about a machine.

Each striping box contains an inner rotatable drum 38 mounted on a shaft 40 having one end affixed to an operating lever 42 as by set screw 44. The drum. 38 includes a midline annular groove 46, and like teeth 48 and 50, respectively on opposite sides of the groove. L- shaped jacks 52 are mounted in selected spaces between the teeth of drum 38 to actuate the striping fingers 14, 16, 18 and 20. Such jacks are held in the drums by a spring 54- which registers with the groove 46 and engages the jacks in one of recesses 56 or 58 formed in one leg 60. Each jack 52 may be disposed in the drum with its other leg 62 projecting from teeth 48 in either of two positions A or B (see FIG. 7) according to the recess 56 or 58 in which the jack is engaged by the spring 54, or the jack may be turned and disposed with leg 62 projecting from teeth 50 in either of two other positions C or D also depending upon the recess 56 or 58 in which the jack is engaged by the spring. In each of the four positions, projecting leg 62 is disposed to actuate a different striping finger. Each finger has connected thereto a spring 64 normally urging the rear arm of the finger downwardly and the yarn carrying end of the finger upwardly. The rear arm of a finger, if not engaged by a jack 52, rests upon the surface of the drum teeth and the yarn carrying end of the finger is in its inoperative position. The drum may, however be moved to bring the projecting leg 62 of a jack into a position under the end of the rear arm of a finger to thereby cause elevation of the rear arm and depression of the yarn carrying end of the finger such that the yarn carrying end of the finger is brought into its operative position (see finger 18 in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3).

The striping box is operated by an actuator 66 which is responsive to camming mechanism (not shown) of the type described for example in US. Pat. No. 2,543,121 mentioned hereinbefore. Actuator 66 includes push rod 68 which acts on one end of lever 42 at 70, the other end 74 of the lever being engageable with a plunger 76 slidably mounted in member 78 and biased against lever 42 by a spring 80. Spring 80, acting through lever 42, urges the push rod 68 to a position wherein flange 82 on the lever engages surface 84 on member 78, and the spring is effective to return the lever to such stop engaging position after actuation of the lever by push rod Drum 38 is operatively connected to a uni-directional roller clutch comprising race 86 affixed in the drum, and rollers 88. The shaft 40 directly engages the rollers 88 and also forms part of the clutch. Whenever lever 42 is actuated by push rod 68, shaft 40 which is afiixed to the rod 68 turns a fraction of a revolution and causes the clutch rollers 88 to bind in the race 86 such that the drum is immediately forced to turn with the shaft. As shown the drum 38 includes a number of detents 90 which project from one end surface of the drum, such detents being biased outwardly by springs 92 held in the drum by screws 94. A plurality of recesses 96 equal in number to the number of pairs of aligned teeth in the drum 38 are provided in check plate 34 to receive the detents 90 and cause the drum when actuated by lever 42 acting through shaft 40 to move into a precise position which is defined by the engagement of detents 90 in recesses 96 and wherein a pair of slots between adjacent teeth 48 and S and any key therein is disposed directly under the extreme end of the rear part of a striping finger such that the finger is moved into its operative position. After the drum 38 is positioned by the shaft 40, the lever 42 is returned to its stop engaging position by spring 80 and the shaft turns with the lever but without moving the drum which maintains a fixed position wherein the detents 90 register in recesses 96. When the drum is rotated to remove a jack from under a finger, the finger is moved into its inoperative position by attached spring 64. As may be seen in FIG. 7, the shaft 40 is supported for rotation relative to the drum 38 on a ball bearing 98 mounted in a thrust washer 100 which is afiixed in the drum. C-ring 102 supports the shaft 38 against longitudinal movement in one direction and the lever 42 prevents longitudinal movement of the shaft in the other direction.

Although striping box has been described as having striping fingers 14, 16, 118 and movable between an upper inoperative position and a lower operative position, it should be appreciated that the striping box construction described is not the only possible construction and that in another construction the striping fingers might, for example, be spring biased toward a lower inoperative position and be subject to actuation by keys of the striper drum into an upper operative position.

Jacks 52 are located in particular slots of the drum and in particular locations within the slots to provide for operation of the striping levers in a predetermined sequence. As noted hereinbefore the jacks 52 may be disposed with outwardly projecting leg 62 in position A, B, C, or D, and the jack for any particular pair of slots of the drum thereby disposed to operate any one of the striping fingers 14, 16, 18 or 20. Since the drum is moved into precise positions from which it is not easily dislodged, reliable operation of the striping fingers by the jacks 52 and maintenance of the fingers in knitting positions with the end of the rear part of a finger resting squarely upon a key is assured.

While the invention has been described in its preferred form, it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than of limitation, and that changes within the purview of the appended claims may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of this invention, what is claimed herein is:

1. A striping box for circular knitting machines comprising a pair of fixed wall members, a plurality of yarn carrying fingers movable between inoperative and operative positions, a rotatable drum between the fixed wall members with finger-actuating elements in predetermined positions on the drum, an actuator, a shaft operatively connected to the actuator and rotatably mounted in the fixed Wall members, a uni-directional clutch within the drum for operatively connecting the drum to the shaft and locating means in the drum and a fixed wall member defining a plurality of discrete positions into which the drum may be rotated by the actuator acting through the shaft and clutch to render and maintain selective striping fingers operative.

2. A striping box as defined in claim 1 including mutually engageable detent and recesses in relatively movable parts of the locating means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,549,701 4/1951 Mishcon et al 66l40 R 1,719,613 7/1929 Kohler 192--12 B 1,985,406 12/1934 Galkin 192-12 B 2,764,270 9/1956 Goul 192-12 B 2,543,121 2/1951 Mishcon et al. 66138 ROBERT R. MACKEY, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 19212 (B) 

